Villa close to signing Germany midfielder Goretzka

Aston Villa are close to signing free agent Leon Goretzka, who left Bayern Munich in the summer after eight years.

Leon Goretzka also played for Bochum and Schalke in Germany before moving to Bayern Munich in 2018 Aston Villa are close to signing Germany international Leon Goretzka on a free transfer. The midfielder is available after leaving Bayern Munich in the summer and Villa have held positive talks with the 31-year-old. Boss Unai Emery has been looking to boost his midfield options with Amadou Onana out until next year with a knee injury he suffered with Belgium at the World Cup. They had been chasing Goretzka's former Bayern team-mate Joao Palhinha but he is expected to move to Benfica instead. Goretzka made 312 appearances for Bayern, scoring 51 times, during his eight years with the Bundesliga side. He also has 73 caps for Germany and made three appearances at the World Cup this summer. He won seven league titles and the Champions League in 2020 with Bayern and will bring experience to Villa, who have lost several stars this summer. Ezri Konsa joined Arsenal for an initial £51m on Friday while Morgan Rogers was sold to Chelsea for £117m. Youri Tielemans joined Manchester United in July and Lucas Digne returned to Paris St-Germain earlier this month. Emery was also unable to guarantee England striker Ollie Watkins would remain at Villa Park beyond the transfer deadline amid interest from Al-Hilal in Saudi. He said on Friday: "We have an issue with him, it's clear. He is our player. We have had offers for him. "I don't want to sell him but it can change because if it's a good option for him and the club and I can replace him in the squad, this is the routine we have and we did before with the players who are leaving." Villa go to Brighton for their opening Premier League game on Sunday.